Baroness Amos: DfID uses international data showing progress towards the millennium development goals (MDGs) to monitor these public service agreement (PSA) sub-targets. These are obtained from the World Bank and agencies of the United Nations, which have in turn obtained data from the countries in question, evaluated its quality and in some cases made adjustments to ensure international consistency.
	Most of our 2005–08 PSA targets for Africa are based on progress in 16 PSA countries. The exception to this is the poverty indicator, for which an internationally produced estimate of overall poverty in the region is used.
	Our view that Africa will meet PSA targets for poverty reduction, primary school enrolment and child mortality by 2008 is based on the difference between the baseline and most recent data, together with an assessment of longer-term trends since 1990.
	For the overall poverty sub-target, although 2002 data show little or no change from the 2000 baseline and there are enormous challenges, there are also grounds for optimism. For example, according to the World Bank, economic performance in Africa in 2004 was the best since 1997. Our entire aid programme in Africa is targeted at reducing poverty. Our bilateral aid to Africa exceeded £1 billion during 2005–06 and we are on track to double aid to Africa between 2004–05 and 2010–11. We have also followed up on commitments made at Gleneagles on specific support to economic growth, such as providing $20 million to the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa, $30 million to the Investment Climate Facility and $20 million to the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund.
	The trend for primary school enrolment is upwards. Latest figures show 77 per cent. enrolment; up from 70 per cent. in 2000. We will continue to prioritise education. In April 2006, the Chancellor and Secretary of State for International Development pledged £8.5 billion over the next 10 years to finance 10-year education plans in African countries.
	Child mortality is falling in many countries (though countries such as Sierra Leone and Democratic Republic of Congo still have very high rates). The 2000 baseline child mortality rate across our 16 PSA countries was 157, on current trends we predict it will fall to 147 by 2008. We are continuing to increase our support for building sustainable, basic health services in Africa and tackling important childhood diseases by expanding access to insecticide-treated bed-nets and immunisation. Access to clean water and sanitation is also critical for child health and we are doubling our expenditure on this up to £95 million by 2007–08.

Lord Drayson: Veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict and of the current Iraq deployment (Operation TELIC) who believe their health has suffered as a result of their service in the Gulf may seek a referral to the Medical Assessment Programme (MAP). Those concerned should seek a referral having first seen their Service Medical Officer if still serving or General Practitioner if ex-Service. The MAP is an independent programme: medical confidentiality is observed and all patients are extensively investigated even if not clinically indicated. As at 1 June 2006, 3,286 veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict and 34 of the current operation in the Gulf had been seen by MAP physicians.

Lord Drayson: The UK Government take a close interest in the research commissioned by the US authorities into Gulf veterans' illnesses as part of their broader concern to understand and respond to illness among UK veterans of the 1990–91 Gulf conflict. Information on this research is published in an annual report to Congress: Federally, Sponsored Research on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses. The department has a British liaison officer based permanently in Washington DC tasked both with ensuring that the UK has full visibility of US research into GVI issues and with providing a channel for communicating our own work to interested US parties.
	The UK Government are guided on their programme of research into Gulf veterans' illnesses by the Medical Research Council. The cost of this programme is some £8.5 million. Individual projects with costs (rounded and VAT exclusive) are:
	
		
			  
			 Anthropological study into "Gulf War syndrome" £25,000 
			 Cancer study £30,000 
			 Longitudinal study of changing health in Gulfveterans £165,000 
			 Mortality/Morbidity £435,000 
			 Mortality/morbidity linkages study £10,000 
			 Neuromuscular symptoms in Gulf veterans £325,000 
			 Paraoxonase work £70,000 
			 Reproductive Health study £1.2 million 
			 Systematic literature review of published research £85,000 
			 Testing for squalene in vaccines £10,000 
			 Vaccines Interactions Research Programme £4.55 million 
		
	
	We have also co-operated with epidemiological and clinical studies of UK veterans sponsored by the US Department of Defense; research papers on the health of those veterans attending the Gulf Veterans' Medical Assessment Programme have been published; and there have been various charges to support and manage the research programme. The costs for these are not separately identifiable.

Lord Drayson: The principal issue raised by veterans claiming Gulf War syndrome before the Daniel Martin decision was that it should be recognised as a discrete medical condition. There was, and remains, no scientific basis for doing this, and this was confirmed by the Pensions Appeal Tribunal decision of 31 October 2005. We have recognised the need to bring an element of closure for those who have sought some acknowledgement that their ill-health is connected to their Gulf service. For this reason we welcomed the tribunal's decision that Gulf War syndrome should be used as an umbrella term covering any recognised medical condition caused by service and connected to service in the 1990–91 Gulf War. We have repeatedly made clear, that the application of the umbrella term does not, in itself, affect the amount of an award, as compensation is already paid to veterans based on their level of disablement due to service in the Armed Forces, regardless of where it was caused.

Lord Drayson: The information requested is not held centrally and can only be obtained by scrutiny of individual case files. A detailed examination of the 111 cases considered under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme and the 57 cases considered by the Veterans Agency is now being undertaken, and I will write separately to the noble Lord when this has been completed.

Lord Triesman: Israel has denied responsibility for the deaths of seven Palestinians on 9 June. However, we remain concerned that Israel's response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip should be proportional. We call on Israel to ensure that civilians, particularly children, are not harmed. My right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary discussed this matter with Israeli Foreign Minister Livni on 12 June. We also continue to call for an end to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on Israeli targets and for calm in the Occupied Territories. We support President Abbas' efforts to restore order, using legally constituted security forces.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government's last assessment of the live music scene in England and Wales was made in 2004. This was based on findings from a survey by MORI, commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that year, about live music performances in a wide range of smaller venues, including bars and restaurants, in the preceding 12 months. The survey findings are available on the DCMS website (www.culture.gov.uk), and copies were deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.
	The DCMS intends to commission research this year to assess the take up of new licences permitting live music performances in England and Wales. A repeat of the 2004 baseline study will take place in 2007, when the Licensing Act 2003 will have been fully operational for more than a year, to measure its impact on live music.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 24 May (WA 109), what steps they are taking to address the under representation of Protestant employees, compared to the number of Roman Catholic employees, in cross-border implementation bodies.

Lord Rooker: Two of the north/south implementation bodies, the Special EU Programmes Body and the Trade and Business Development Body, have determined that there was an under representation of Protestants within their workforces. Both bodies have, in conjunction with the Equality Commission, developed comprehensive affirmative action plans which include outreach measures to encourage applications from the Protestant community.

Lord Rooker: Transfer from a department to a north/south body can be either permanent or temporary.
	Permanent transfer can be effected in two ways. Employees of a department who carried out functions which were transferred to a north/south body under the terms of the North/South Co-operation (Implementation Bodies) (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 were transferred permanently to the employ of that body. No promotion to a higher grade was involved. Secondly, civil servants in general may apply for openly advertised positions at any grade north/south bodies and, if successful, may take up their posts permanently having resigned from the Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS).
	Temporary transfer may also be effected in two ways. Departments are encouraged to facilitate secondments to north/south bodies, where civil servants have been successful in an open competition but wish to remain in the NICS and the body is content to fill the position on these terms. If the seconded post involves a promotion, then officers revert to their existing NICS grade on return from secondment. Secondly, at the bodies' request, staff may be transferred on loan at their existing grade to meet an urgent need, such as cover until open recruitment can take place.

Baroness Amos: The Quartet agreed to the idea of a temporary international mechanism on 9 May. Since then, the European Union has been urgently pressing ahead with planning. On 16 June, the European Council announced an internationally agreed temporary mechanism for Palestinians' basic needs. The European Commission is now urgently implementing the technical steps so that the mechanism can deliver assistance as soon as possible.

Lord Monson: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the remarks by the Lord Corbett of Castle Vale and the response by the Lord Bassam of Brighton on 3 May (HL Deb, col. 280), why the United Kingdom authorities did not consider flying Mustaf Jama from the United Kingdom to Nairobi from where, with the permission of the Kenyan authorities, he could have been taken overland to a Somali border post.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The noble Lord, Lord Bassam, made clear when asked about this case on 3 May (HL Deb, col. 280) that it is not the policy of the department to comment publicly about details of individual cases.

Lord Warner: Information on the cost of additional secure psychiatric beds in or near existing hospitals is not available. However, the total expenditure for high secure services for the past five years is shown in Table 1.
	
		Table 1: Expenditure on high secure services 2001–02 to 2005–06
		
			  
			 2001–02 £166.9 million 
			 2002–03 £172.3 million 
			 2003–04 £184.5 million 
			 2004–05 £206.0 million 
			 2005–06 £215.8 million 
		
	
	Note:
	In addition the National Health Service opened a high secure dangerous and severe personality disorder pilot at Rampton High Secure Hospital in 2004–05. The expenditure on this is as listed below and is excluded from the above.
	
		
			  
			 2004–05 £12.3 million 
			 2005–06 £12.9 million 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health.
	Information on expenditure on medical and psychiatric care for prisoners in the publicly run prisons in England is shown in Table 2.
	
		Table 2: Expenditure on prison healthcare in England -- 2002–03 to 2006–071
		
			  
			 2002–03 £117,615,000 
			 2003–04 £139,705,000 
			 2004–05 £158,002,000 
			 2005–06 £177,511,000 
			 2006–07 2£193,971,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1The figures quoted include amount spend on mental health in-reach services in both publicly and privately managed prisons.
	2The figure for 2006–07 also includes an amount to cover the cost of implementing Agenda for Change, backdated to October 2004, for prison healthcare staff who have transferred to the NHS.
	Source:
	Department of Health.
	Individual drug treatment expenditure on drug and alcohol treatment for prisoners is not collected centrally. Additional drug treatment funding allocated to prisons globally over the past five years is shown in Table 3.
	
		Table 3: Additional drug treatment funding allocated to prisons 2001–02 to 2005–06
		
			 Intervention 2001–02 £ million 2002–03 £ million 2003–04 £ million 2004–05 £ million 2005–06 £ million 
			 Clinical services (detoxification and/or maintenance-prescribing) 7.30 7.30 11.30 11.30 11.30 
			 Counselling, Assessment, Referral, Advice & Through-care services (CARATs) 12.91 14.30 17.40 23.20 26.70 
			 Drug rehabilitation programmes 7.09 7.10 9.00 13.90 19.40 
			 Juvenile substance-misuse service (JSMS) — — — 2.30 3.10 
			 Total 27.30 28.70 37.70 50.70 60.50 
		
	
	Source:
	Home Office.
	There is currently no central funding for implementing the Alcohol Strategy for Prisoners (introduced December 2004). A number of initiatives are underway locally but such spend is not recorded centrally.
	For drug and alcohol treatment for other convicted persons, the drug treatment and testing order (DTTO) and, since April 2005, the drug rehabilitation requirement (DRR) of the community order, which has gradually replaced it, are the only community sentences which require the offender to attend drug treatment. Funding for DTTOs and DRRs over the past five years is shown in Table 4.
	
		Table 4: Funding for Drug Treatment and Testing Orders and the Drug Rehabilitation Requirement 2001–02 to 2005–06
		
			 Year Amount paid to pooled treatment budget to fund DTTO/DRR treatmentand testing in England(£m) Allocation to probationareas to fund DTTO/DRR supervision and enforcement costs in England and full DTTO/DRR costs in Wales (£m) 
			 2001–02 14.8 21.2 
			 2002–03 20 16 
			 2003–04 29.7 24 
			 2004–05 42 34 
			 2005–06 42 39 
		
	
	Source:
	Home Office.
	Additionally, £3 million was made available in 2005–06 to the Prospects programme; a pilot which provides offenders with a history of drug misuse with seamless support from prison to the community in a residential setting.
	DTTO and DRR allocations are projected to remain the same in 2006–07. The 2006–07 allocation for Prospects is £3.8 million.
	There is no dedicated funding provided by Government to support the provision of alcohol treatment to offenders under probation supervision. Instead, each probation area determines the amount of its annual probation funding allocation to spend on alcohol treatment. Information about alcohol treatment spend by probation area is not centrally available.
	Funding plans for any of these programmes and services for the next five years have not yet been finalised, although they are all ongoing.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The freight-only railway link across the Pyrenees is part of priority axis 16: Sines-Algeciras-Madrid-Paris. This is one of the 30 priority projects of the Trans-European Network (Transport) which were adopted in the 2004 guidelines. There are currently four priority projects in the UK: the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the west coast main line modernisation, the Ireland-UK-Benelux road link and the road/rail axis between Ireland and mainland Europe. Funding for the Trans-European Network (both priority projects and other schemes) is allocated by the European Commission and the Government aim to achieve a fair level of funding for projects in the UK.

Baroness Byford: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the reply by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jim Knight, on 20 April (HC Deb, col. 208), how much money has been contributed to the regional development agencies from the vital villages and market towns initiatives; and whether it is earmarked for those uses.

Lord Rooker: In line with our Rural Strategy 2004, Defra has devolved decision-making on delivery of economic and social regeneration policies to regional and local levels. This includes areas of activity such as those formerly covered by the Countryside Agency's vital villages and market towns programmes, and builds on the RDAs' current responsibility for economic regeneration and sustainable development across England.
	We have increased Defra's contribution to the Regional Development Agency Single Pot by £21 million to £73 million to reflect these additional responsibilities to deliver improvements in rural productivity and access to services. This additional funding of £21 million, running for three years (from 05–06 to 07–08), will ensure RDAs target resources at those rural areas and communities that need it most.
	RDAs, working in partnership, will decide how to use their resources to meet national targets and address regional needs. By devolving responsibilities to the RDAs and increasing their resources, rural delivery will become more responsive to local priorities and better focused on areas and people that need it most.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	In each of the past five years, how many sex offenders have been released after serving only half their sentences; and, of that number, how many have since re-offended in Northern Ireland.

Lord Rooker: The table gives the number of determinate immediate custody prisoners, whose primary offence was a sexual offence, who were released from prison at "end of sentence" in each of the past five years. This normally means that the prisoner has served half their sentence.
	
		
			 Year Number discharged 
			 2001 57 
			 2002 57 
			 2003 47 
			 2004 66 
			 2005 49 
			 Total 276 
		
	
	Statistics from the 2001 adult (17 years and older) reconviction dataset indicate that 10 of the sexual offenders contained in the custody discharge cohort were subsequently reconvicted within two years of their date of discharge in 2001. None of the 10 was reconvicted for a sexual offence. Reconviction data are not yet available in respect of those convicted after 2001.
	It should be noted that the adult reconviction dataset only counts the first discharge from prison for an individual in that year and is based on the principal offence rule, thus only the most serious offence with which an offender is charged is included. The 2001 reconviction dataset accounts for subsequent convictions, up to and including 31 December 2003.

Lord Rooker: There are currently 29 determinate immediate custody prisoners in Northern Ireland whose primary offence was a sexual offence and who are expected to be released in 2006, assuming 50 per cent. remission.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government are aware of one voluntary arrangement; the British Greyhound Racing Fund, through which the betting industry contributes to greyhound racing.

Lord Rooker: Ultimately, it will be for the courts to determine whether or not an offence has been committed under Section 33 of the 1990 Act. A local authority will decide whether or not to prosecute an individual based on its local enforcement policy and the evidence and circumstances of the individual case.
	I also refer the noble Lord to the Answer given on 2 June, (HL WA 62).

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What was the total consumption of water in cubic metres, including a break down of consumption per occupant, in the headquarters of HM Treasury in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What representations they have made to the Government of South Africa regarding its policy on asylum seekers from Zimbabwe.